Residential Development Criteria

In July 2000, County staff published "The Infill and
Residential Development Study." This study included
recommendations on how the County could better address issues
associated with the impacts of new residential development. One of
the priority recommendations of the Infill Study was that the
County review and revise Appendix 9 of the Land Use part of the
Policy Plan, "Criteria for the Assignment of Appropriate
Residential Development Density." This appendix, also know as
the "Development Criteria," is a tool used to evaluate
rezoning requests for residential developments. The Board of
Supervisors authorized a Plan Amendment to amend the current
criteria and the Planning Commission established the Development
Criteria Review Committee.

During the past year, the Planning Commission committee, chaired
by Walter Alcorn, Commissioner At-Large, held many committee
meetings. All of the meetings were open to the public. Two general
outreach sessions were held in April, 2002. Members of the
development community; members of boards, authorities and
commissions established by the Board and numerous citizen groups
were invited to these workshops. In addition to the Planning
Commission public hearing, the Commission held its own workshop to
discuss the proposed amendment and the public testimony regarding
the amendment. The material distributed at the workshops as well as
a draft staff report, the final staff report, various versions of
the proposed text and other information was posted on this Web
site. The modifications to the current residential development
criteria pertain to issues such as: site design, neighborhood
compatibility, transportation impacts, tree preservation,
preservation of environmental and heritage resources, affordable
housing, stormwater management and effects on public facilities, as
well as how rezoning applications will be evaluated against the
criteria.

On July 24, 2002, the Planning Commission forwarded a
recommendation for Plan Amendment S01-CW-18CP to the Board of
Supervisors. That recommendation included three parts. The first
was recommended text for the Residential Development Criteria, as
Appendix 9 of the Land Use portion of the Policy Plan was renamed.
The second was an implementation strategy, which is primarily
focused on the Public Facilities Criterion. The third motion
recommended that the Board of Supervisors move forward with a study
of the current Affordable Housing Trust Fund to investigate whether
or not there should be a contribution or contribution expectation
set or developed for non-residential development.

On Sept. 9, 2002, the Board of Supervisors held its public hearing
on the Plan Amendment. After the public hearing, the Board adopted
the recommendations of the Planning Commission with several minor
modifications to the proposed text for Appendix 9, the residential
development criteria; adopted the implementation strategy; and
accepted the Commission's recommendation to study the Affordable
Housing Trust Fund with regard to contributions from
non-residential development. The Board also set Jan. 7, 2003 as the
effective date of the amendment. The adopted text and the
implementation motion are available below.